Yes, she did get it sorted, and had to go to a strange office type hearing, where she swore allegiance to the queen out loud, and signed documents.
Strange stuff.
Bereavement wipes out everything
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News & politics
Nelson Shardey
(134 Posts)This is rather long but I hope you will read it.
Nelson Shardey, age 74, is a Ghanaian man who came to the UK nearly 50 years ago to study accountancy. When there was a coup in Ghana his family were unable to continue supporting him so he worked so he could continue his studies.
He worked for well-known firms such as Mother's Pride, Mr Kipling Cakes and Bendincks.
No-one ever queried his right to stay and work here. He paid his taxes.
Later on he ran a newsagent's, married and had a family. His sons went to university here and both have good jobs.
Mr Shardey bought a house after obtaining a mortgage.
He has performed jury service, and in 2007 was given a police award for bravery after tackling a robber who was attacking a delivery man with a baseball bat.
He never applied for a British passport as he never went abroad until 2019 when he wanted to go to Ghana after his mother died.
That's when his troubles started because the Home Office said he had no right to be in the UK.
Officials told him to apply for the 10-year route to settlement.
By that time, even if granted, he will be 84.
Over the 10 years it costs about £7,000, with a further £10,500 over the same period to access the NHS.
"I cannot afford to pay any part of the money they are asking," said Mr Shardey, who is recovering from prostate cancer."
Mr Shardey made a mistake in believing he did not need to apply for settlement here and no-one, not the HMRC, the CJA, the banks ever advised him otherwise.
This man has been an asset to our country, a man to admire.
Surely the Home Office should use some common sense and grant him British citizenship as a matter of urgency?
We need rules but there must be some way round this ridiculousness.
MissA at least your friend can now alert her brother and sister that they need to get their paperwork sorted out now. Did your friend manage to sort things out for herself? Children cannot be expected to sort out these things and it seems the LA let them down badly.
Given his age and history (he's contributed so much) it should be fast forwarded.
Be given Indefinite leave to Remain whilst sorted.
As I said, I’m not suggesting this man be deported now though, so it matters not what any of us think about what happened or didn’t happen years ago. He should be given indefinite leave to remain or citizenship in my opinion. We’ve given leave to remain to many who have turned out to not deserve our sympathy, but he does at this stage in his life.
LizzieDrip
FFS GSM reading your posts on this thread I’m beginning to wonder if you’re a robot. Where is your compassion!
My compassion is alive and well. Mainly reserved for animals who can’t speak for themselves.
As they say, the more I see of people …
maddyone
Surely that’s the fault of the Local Authority that took responsibility for her at the point when she was fostered. They should have ensured she had the correct paperwork (whatever the correct paperwork is in such a case.)
You'd think so, wouldn't you.
She had a brother and sister who were fostered here, too, her brother in the same home as her, and her sister, with her foster mums sister.
I've no idea what went wrong.
(apparently he couldn’t afford his course when his parents couldn’t afford to give him the money after the coup in his home country)
As he had a working student Visa he was able to work while he was a student.
He should have applied for leave to stay when he married a British woman but perhaps assumed (wrongly) that doing so gave him the right to remain here.
No, I don't think he should have been deported when he was younger; I think he should have been told that he needed to apply for British citizenship.
I'm astonished that not one person in authority picked up on this years ago. If he is to blame for his own oversight, then they are culpable too.
I'd rather he was given British citizenship than many others I could think of.
If he was younger I’d think he should be deported
Yes, it is harsh Callistemon but I’m not suggesting he be deported now, at the age of seventy. I don’t think he is entirely innocent in all this, because he knew enough to apply for a visa, but having lived here since 1979 and worked all that time (apparently he couldn’t afford his course when his parents couldn’t afford to give him the money after the coup in his home country) and having made a family in this country, then I think he should be allowed to stay, and he shouldn’t have to wait ten years for citizenship. Or pay for NHS treatment. I thought deportation would have been appropriate when he was younger, but not now.
LizzieDrip
FFS GSM reading your posts on this thread I’m beginning to wonder if you’re a robot. Where is your compassion!
I was wondering too.
FFS GSM reading your posts on this thread I’m beginning to wonder if you’re a robot. Where is your compassion!
Surely that’s the fault of the Local Authority that took responsibility for her at the point when she was fostered. They should have ensured she had the correct paperwork (whatever the correct paperwork is in such a case.)
My friend was fostered in the UK, having come from Nigeria.
Social services were involved with her upbringing, as must have been the benefits agency, (as her foster parents certainly didn't look after her for the sheer joy of it!) and she duly left school, and carried on with her life.
It wasn't until she was planning her wedding that she found out she had no legal paperwork allowing her to be on the uk.
I don’t think I have knowingly ever met a criminal! What a sheltered life I’ve led - none of my firms did criminal work. One of my clients was an arms dealer though. He was a charming man. Sorry, I digress.
Actually, I've come across a lot of criminals and reports of criminal activities over the years but Mr Shardey would come way down the list of "criminals" who should be deported.
Me too!
I'm a soft touch.
I'd go and protest at the Home Office if my knees would stand up to it!
HousePlantQueen
Crikey GSM, you are in hanging judge mode. Nice bit of victim blaming too. Thankfully your legal career was confined to conveyancing and property, and not criminal, or heaven forfend; immigration or human rights.
Not conveyancing. Property development, planning, construction and infrastructure. It’s pretty obvious I would never have done human rights or immigration work I’m sure. Failing to leave the UK when your visa expires is a criminal offence and has been since 1971. I have never fallen for sob stories, especially from criminals.
It could well be that if he married to a British Citizen he thought it was automatic?
If this man knew he was here illegally surely the last thing he would do is apply for a passport? He should have known that his status would be checked
I think this jury is in the majority - Grant Mr Shardey UK citizenship NOW!
He didn't disappear or hide at least. He obviously thought he had nothing to hide. Perhaps life just got in the way and he never applied for citizenship.
Is there a time limit on a student/working Visa?
He owned a newsagents. Can't really get more visible than that.
As for the four children - he paid his taxes same as the rest of us.
BlueBelle
It’s a total an utter disgrace if they haven’t bothered to follow it up in what 50 + years
He an exemplary citizen he has more than earned his right paid his taxes more than many home grown do, has never been a burden on the country been good enough to do jury service ( don’t they check on people they invite for jury service ) and even helped the police tackle a criminal
Leave him alone Home Office give him whatever papers he needs now not in 10 expensive years time
This is not his fault and it’s abysmal treatment of an upstanding citizen
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Crikey GSM, you are in hanging judge mode. Nice bit of victim blaming too. Thankfully your legal career was confined to conveyancing and property, and not criminal, or heaven forfend; immigration or human rights.
I think the whole thing is completely ridiculous frankly. We seem to not be able to easily deport criminals who don’t have British passports (I don’t mean failed asylum seekers, those who have committed violent and serious crimes), yet we cannot grant this man a British passport? Or give him indefinite leave to remain without charging him a fortune!
Names are just selected at random from the electoral register for jury service. There appears to have been no reason for his status to have been checked until he applied for a passport. He pleads ignorance but I don’t buy that. People are failing to return home when their visas expire and many seem to disappear. I don’t want ‘he has worked and paid taxes’ to set a precedent. Too many come here on student visas, either never attend their courses or drop out as he did, and don’t leave. It’s said he was not a burden on the state but his two wives produced four children … no NHS care, no family allowance, no education?
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